Andre Johnson Returns To Practice, But Still Not Sure About Playing Sunday

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Texans star wide receiver Andre Johnson has anticipated for the last three weeks what it would be like to retake the practice field with his teammates following a hamstring injury that required minor surgery.

Johnson hoped he’d feel much better than he did when practice was over Wednesday. The All-Pro receiver said he felt some tugging in his hamstring as he tried to explode.

“I just went out and did a little bit in practice today and I wouldn’t say I felt great,” Johnson said. “I didn’t feel how I expected I would feel. But I was able to go out and make a few plays.

“We’ll just keep taking it one day at a time.”

Earlier Wednesday Texans coach Gary Kubiak announced that both fullback James Casey (shoulder) and Johnson both practiced with no limitations. While Kubiak said Casey would likely play Sunday against Jacksonville, but he preferred to take a more wait-and-see approach with Johnson.

Johnson, himself, said he didn’t know if would be able to go, especially if he didn’t feel any different than he did Wednesday.

“But today is not Sunday and we still have some days and some things I have to work through,” he said. “So we will keep progressing day by day and see how it feels.”

Johnson said the problem isn’t in making cuts but in being able to explode the way he is accustomed to. Team doctors apparently cautioned him there could be pain as the healing process takes place.

“It’s just the process you have to go through with healing and things like that. It’s normal for the procedure that I had. It has gotten better but right now today is not where we want it to be.”

Johnson came out and did some running with the team Monday and said he felt good afterward. So feeling the way he did coming out of Wednesday’s non-contact practice was quite disappointing.

“I thought I would feel better today than I felt Monday, but that just wasn’t the case,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you have days like that where you have ups and downs dealing with injuries. I may come back tomorrow and feel better than I did today so it just depends on how it’s feeling. I’ll do all my treatment and stuff and see how it feels tomorrow.”

Casey, meanwhile, also said he felt a little soreness in his shoulder but felt optimistic about getting back on the playing field Sunday.

“It held up pretty good today, but it still bothered me,” Casey said. “It’s definitely not 100 percent but it’s much improved from what it was. I will know a lot more tomorrow when we put pads on and go out there and practice.”